BRITISH WILD FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN. 



425 



the condition that kills off these plants when they are placed in such 

 uncongenial quarters. 



To grow just a very few satisfactorily is far better than to attempt 

 a collection. I suggest the best way to grow British orchids successfully 

 is to make a bed (cut out of turf) in some shady moist part of the garden, 

 and fill the bed with three kinds of soil to the depth of 12 to 15 inches. 

 First, in the most shady part of the bed, make up the soil with plenty 

 of leaf mould, not too much decayed, some peat, and plenty of good river 

 sand, and, if it is easily obtained, some well chopped Sphagnum. In this 

 section of the bed can be grown Goodyera repens, one of the least known 

 of our native orchids. Given a few handfuls of pine needles to carpet 

 the soil in its vicinity, it will produce its pretty little cream-white flowers 

 during the latter part of July and early in August. It is by no means 

 a showy flower, but its leaves, when fully developed, are very unlike the 

 ordinary orchid leaf, and serve to give distinction and special character 

 to the plant. Not the least interesting trait in the Goodyera is its very 

 wide geographical range. It is a very rare plant in the British Isles, 

 occurring only in the East of Scotland, whilst it is found in parts of 

 Mid and North Europe, Siberia, the Himalayas, and North America, where 

 it is known as the ' rattlesnake plantain ' — a name that is used also for 

 two other species of the same genus, G. pubescens and G. Menziesii. 



In the same section of our Orchid bed the showiest plants will be 

 Orchis latifolia and Epipactis palustris. The former is one of the most 

 handsome of wild flowers, and a clump of this plant growing in the wild 

 garden undisturbed for several years forms as ornamental a subject as one 

 can desire. The sub-species, 0. latifolia incarnata, has more intense 

 coloured flowers and unspotted leaves, and is a most desirable companion 

 plant to the Marsh Orchid. 



Epipactis palustris (the Marsh Helleborine) is a distinctly handsome 

 plant when once established, and should be given the dampest corner and 

 planted with just a trace of chalk near the roots. In such a position it 

 will soon establish itself, and its annual crop of quaint whitish flowers 

 will reward any trouble taken in giving it the position it likes. 



The surface of this part of our Orchid bed should be carpeted with 

 some very dwarf growing plants, and for this purpose I would suggest a 

 few heaths, the Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), and the Butterworts 

 (Pinguicula vulgaris and other species), and the Sun-dews (Drosea 

 rotundifolia and intermedia). 



In the second section of the proposed bed good stiff loam should be 

 the soil. This, with a small proportion of leaf mould, will be a favourable 

 place to grow Gymnadenia Gonopsea, the sweetest scented Orchid we 

 have, a plant worth cultivation in any garden. 



In the same bed can be grown several species of Orchis, such as the 

 Purple Orchis (0. mascula) and the Spotted Orchis (0. maculata), both 

 of which species can be found growing in profusion on the rank clay soil 

 of Middlesex, and within a few miles of London. 



0. maculata especially makes a most effective garden plant, and left 

 alone will make a fine specimen plant in a few years. Gerard, in the 

 "Herbal," says of these, "in shape like a fools hood or cocks combe." 

 Evidently this Orchid was a favourite even in Gerard's days, for he 



